With the London mulligan rule, some decks will turn out to just be way too strong and the meta way too degenerate. The decks that seem most likely to be able to abuse this mulligan are degenerate combo decks that can afford to hard mulligan for combo pieces.
I hope it will not become the new rule, otherwise only combo decks will be played in all formats exept standard
Finally, Mission Briefing didn´t pass the cut, being a relatively bad in a grindy match up. Maybe they must be supplanted by 2x Cryptic command?. I think that we need to include a secondary winning condition, and Nahiri, the Harbinger is our best chance. That is the reason to play uwr instead of ur version. Furthermore, white splash open a huge sideboard.
Here is the Jeskai list I came up with. I pretty much copied the UR list, removed Blood Moon and main deck Tormod's Crypt and added Nahiri, the Harbinger. I also like Path to Exile over Lightning Bolt. I don't think we need Bolt as we aren't going to be using it on our opponents, but it's early interaction with creatures. Overall, I think Flame Slash would fit the bill better if you don't want to run White because it deals with problems like Hollow One and Thing in the Ice - Path can also handle one mana, post balance threats like Gurmag Angler. Because I'm running Path, I removed Blood Moon since it doesn't work well together and I think Path is more relevant for removal instead of a "got 'em" with Moon.
My Sideboard is also a work in progress, however, I like the interaction of Tolaria West with Tormod's Crypt and Engineered Explosives. Tutoring up answers is always a powerful thing. Leyline of Sanctity is for Rock and Burn as they can answer our engine or race to win. Wear//Tear, Abraide, and/or Shattering Spree all seem like good answers to artifacts. I picked Wear//Tear as it also answers enchantments but it may be wrong. Anger of the Gods is just an additional sweeper for aggressive decks. I think there may be better sideboard options out there, but this is what I came up with based on what I had handy.
I like the white splash for Nahiri, the Harbinger and Path to Exile but I also like slamming Emmy into play on the cheap. I think Electrodominance has added some new life to an interesting deck and I can't wait to test this at my next FNM.
I prefer Bolt to path for the sole reason that it can hit Planeswalkers. I’ve also grinded out games where I was able to cast Bolt and Electrodominance targetting face multiple times thanks to cycling Emrakul and using my 1-of Mission Briefing.
@part_timeMTG: I saw the point of replacing Bolts with Paths and removing Blood Moon, I think it is a smart solution. Giving a basic land to our opponent in a Restore Balance deck is not a problem due to Gargadon, but: don´t you think that planeswalkers in front of us are problematic?. I think exactly the same that @epoa.
Other reflexion: why running so many manipulation (Serum + Opt + Sleight) and no Remand + Cryptic?. I think that with Serum and Ancestral we are in a good position searching the combo piece, using control cards to delay our opponent. Maybe Azcanta could give us better draws if we want to search some piece.
This is by memory as I’m not near my list: but this is the current adaptation. It’s hardly a list I’d take to an event and is still here to test different cards.
Quoting and updating my list. As I said earlier, 1 Chandra and 1 Mission Briefing really feels right. They’re powerful, but I really don’t want to see them in multiples.
To my dismay, however, my lgs has closed down and work has taken over my life, so I won’t be testing any more in the foreseeable future. Maybe I’ll try something come MagicFest Tampa.
Added the 3rd tolaria to increase the odd to find balance. 3 baubles are now 2 devastating summons and an additional bolt. Cutting a wheel of fate from the set to increase the bolt count to 3. Against fast decks and mainly plainswalker, bolt is a must.
Leyline of sanctity in the sideboard are just too good against burn (one of the worst mu) and bg decks (discard effects are a pain for us. Followed by a surgical on a balance is game).
It's hard against super fast decks:
Dredge, goblin, burn, ur phoenix. We are in advantage against other mu. My loss were against living end dominance(hollow one plan is a pain), ur phoenix(lost by the single copy of izzet charm in the deck)and affinity(deck refused to work completely).
The addition of devastating summons increased the % of the land denial plan, and it's too good to cast electrobalance while summons is on the stack. Won many games by casting it on turn 3 and comboing out. With few cards in hand and 0 lands in play, two 3/3 will beat hard
Hello everyone, I used to play Restore Balance religiously. I have came back to realize that after I walked away that I love this deck and really want to play more of it. So that being said I have read the last couple pages, I was wondering is the previous color scheme for the cascade version still no black. I have seen some powerful new spells out of black but still think blue offers more. Secondly it appears that modern has been dropping some of the artifact hate for the grave hate. With that I was looking at my past build that I so relentlessly defended, I am not quite impressed with the old build no matter how sweet I think it was. So I'm looking for some of the new ideas for that list, I used to focus on just UW and play it a prison style deck, but I think having more powerful threats that require less time will not only make it better but lose less games. I have seen a lot of the new deck. Has it been successful with testing or mostly hype. I'm playing Living End Electrodominance right now and I have felt that it it much harder to have two pieces then just cascade past the one. Thanks everyone for the ideas, if feels good to be brewing again.
P.S: Has anyone tried Karn, Scion of Urza? I know he exiles our stuff sometimes but he seems like a really good threat, with card advantage as well as a clock.
despite the electro build be solid i acherly feel like the old cascade build is better position in the meta. as a reliable turn 3 balance is really hard for a lot of decks to come back from. (admittedly burn and phoenix are still very very SB dependant) but deathshadow, jund, hollow one, titan shift and tron dredge are not bad matchups.
i will say spirits is a slog to win, but very win able, the games just tend to go long due to mausoleum wanderer.
a good part of the cascade build advantage is that it now has relevant early game removal, between dead//gone, Response // Resurgence, Depose // Deploy, Warrant // Warden and dismember (there also Cut // Ribbons as a major reason to run black) the deck has a reasonable amount of removal for the early game also Gideon of the Trials is normally a 3 mana time walk as all aggro and midrange decks take a turn off to deal with him (hes also a solid wincon)
(and not going to lie i'm really hoping for a fire//ice reprint in modern horizons as that then becomes the decks best removal option.
i'm also convinced there a cascade shell that uses theater of horrors and ill gotten inheritance as a "not draw" engine and life dran wincon to be tried.
there also probably a treasure based deck shell for a cascade and electro balance build as well.
i've not tried karn yet but he on my radar for trying with a antiquities war build.
I thought the same thing for a while but I think that the big difference between the 2 decks is in post board games. Borderpost restore balance has a more consistent T3 cascade and I think that it has a slightly higher game 1 win %. Games 2 and 3 feel like such an uphill battle though. I think that the electrodominance build is much more flexible and resilient.
I'm certainly not going to get rid of my borderposts anytime soon, I think that the deck is still very viable. I'm currently running electrobalance though and I think that I will stay that way for a while.
On a speculative note, I'm hoping for some sweet blue reprints in Modern Horizons that will be a bump to the deck.
Yeah, current theme is no black, still. I miss the old days where my favorite color stood for something in our archetype.
It’s been mostly successful. It’s strong against a good number of the field and only really has a tougher matchup vs Spirits and Humans. It seems the cascadeless version has the same good and bad matchups as the cascade version, but the w/l percentage is push further in that direction (i.e. our matchup against spirits becomes worse, despite already being bad; but our matchup against control becomes better, despite already being slightly favorable), with the only exceptions being that cascadeless decks are better against thoughtseize matchups. Luckily, the versatility in sideboard options makes games 2 and 3 feel a lot less clunky. Being able to run shattering spree instead of ingot chewer feels so much better.
Overall, Cascade version feels “safer” walking into an unknown meta and cascadeless feels better walking into a meta where a majority of the floor is expected to be 50/50 or better.
Wow thanks for the warm welcome back epoa, I feels really nice to be back. I have spent my last couple days brewing and have come up with a few lists. If you guys would kindly offer your opinions I would be very appreciative. As I explained earlier I am currently on BR ElectroEnd and am hesitant to jump head long into those builds, it does not feel as nice and consistent. Thanks again everyone, plus as a bonus I will be posting my original list from before.
New cascade list looks solid as ever. I recall not liking Kiora in my testing all those years ago. Gideon is a strong improvement. I always preferred Beast Within to Detention Sphere.
I don’t like the blue/red lists. I feel they lack synergistic wincons. JtMS is nice and all, but he doesn’t offer much before the first balance. EDIT: I know you don’t run JtMS in yours, that was just a general statement. I like Chandra, but found running more than one led to feelbads when both were in my hand. That being said, my list can cycle Emrakul and dig to her again if the first one is destroyed, so running two in the UR build seems reasonable.
I mean, your Jeskai list is exactly mine, except swap two Opts for two Bolts and one Tolaria West for one Spirebluff Canal. I approve.
I finally dropped uwr electrobalance to ur version due to the lack of opt. Nahiri+emmy is a good call but way to slow in electrodom version (in my playtesting). Why are you convinced in uwr version? Don’t you think it is to slow when you play against ur phoenix, shadow, robots,...? I think it is more useful playing serum+opt in order to find our second piece to restore modern
I play less towards the style of “dig dig dig till I get the combo” and more along the lines of “control my draw the best I can to get to my combo and disrupt the important threats along the way.” Hence my 4 Bolts. Nahiri’s -2 comes into play quite often and she proceeds to soak up damage, too.
But the real nail in the coffin for Jeskai is the sideboard. I have access to the best sideboard color in the format and i abuse that. Rip in Pepperonis, Leyline of Don’t Touch Me, Stoned Silence, etc. help in all those matchups.
I have yet to play against Shadow with this build, but I suspect it is still a bad matchup.
So my thoughts on the Jeskai list for ElectroBalance is still possibly impacted by my bias towards Nahiri. She is such an efficient clock that demands an answer. When she resolves she loots, can protect or in three turns which isn't that many with assistance from a Balance. As well as white is so powerful for sideboard that the splash is worth it. Plus if its just a splash we don't lose much besides a little extra damage. With regards to the play style I have always wanted to play more into the role of being a proactive deck that is helped by balance then just a good Restore Balance Deck. Which I think is the primary strength of the Electro build.
Now with regards to the Beast Within, I really like the card but D-Spheres have felt so good against Dredge and I imagine the Phoenix decks. As well as aligning better with The colors. ( I tend to give green the stick in my builds) I wish I could try to play it more, this leads to my inclusion of Kiora, she is in this to fulfill a similar role as Gideon. They both offer protection in a sense but that's where they have slightly different roles. Gideon becomes a clock but doesn't offer any card advantage, where Kiora can draw cards as well as protecting.
Other considerations for the Sixth walker slot is of course a second Gideon, Dovin, possibly Chandra Torch, Karn with Pants, and possibly Sarkan Unbroken. Now to explain my odd decisions, So lets start with Dovin, He gains us life with the card drawn as well turning off some of the value creatures that may hurt us. With Chandra she has ramp for post Restore Balances, as well as offering card advantage that is a tad risky without As Fortold but is mostly free, as well as offering removal, This does come with a price of the RR in the casting cost, Karn, Scion of Urza, is interesting with some card advantage as well as a clock with the artifact soldiers, with the ability of not worrying about mana cost. Now for the spice of Sarkan Unbroken has the scary mana cost of 2UGR though he offer card advantage with some minor mana, with the clock of a 4/4 a turn. (I dont think hes impressive just sweet.)
Advantages of playing Nahiri are well known in my experience. But Nahiri shifts Opts in uwr version. Having a initial hand with Nahiri (or Emrakul) is a very slow gameplan if you don't have BOTH Restore pieces in electrodom version. That's the reason why I erase Nahiri from this equation. Another negative aspect is that I can't play Blood Moon maindeck because sometimes (a lot) I can't play Moon and Nahiri in the same game. Those things plus loosing Opts are very painful in Modern's speed right now.
I'm playing ur electrodom with a white splash for sideboard cars like wear//tear, stony, and rip. Meanwhile, maindeck I can play Blood Moon without any problem, changing gameplay after sideboarding, using more Blood Moon (2 in my sideboard) or hating phoenix&dredge removing Moons and adding Rips. Same equation using Stony Silence.
What other wincons do you run? I don’t like the logic of “if I have these two in my opening hand, it’s too slow.” That’s when you mulligan. We are playing Restore Balance, we can mulligan more aggressively than other decks. Also, that’s why I run 3 Nahiri, not 4. I’ve put some thought into dropping that to 2, but I feel that Nahiri is too good to not run at least 3.
I feel I’ve stated my opinion of Blood Moon in this deck enough that it doesn’t need repeating. I guess in UR non-cascade list, it’s a lot more effective (as long as you main at least 3 islands), but I still would rather use those precious slots on other threats.
Lastly, @Timota, I’ve been thinking of following your list’s idea of cutting two Bolts for two more opts. How has that been working out for you?
We've been speculating a lot on this topic but I think we should be a bit more methodical when trying to decide between cascade and electrodominance versions. I pulled the top meta decks from mtggoldfish and I'll try to do my best to evaluate both of the decks vs them.
1. Izzet Phoenix
I think that the edge here goes to Cascade. You have more shots at getting a restore balance which is huge against the recursive threats. Phoenix doesn't usually have too much artifact hate so you aren't that disadvantaged by your mana base.
2. Dredge Cascade lets you play ravenous trap which is one of the best answers to dredge anyways so I think that cascade is the better choice into this matchup. Same thing as phoenix, recurring threats need more balances.
3. Burn
I think that the traditional cascade build is weak to burn and I'm hoping that being able to run lightning bolts and other low cmc answers can help you survive a bit longer. I personally am using Dragon's Claw in my electrobalance list now as an answer. I'll go with electrodominance here.
4. Grixis Death's Shadow
In my opinion, electrodominance is better against all thoughtseize decks. With Inquisition of Kozilek and Thoughtseize being able to grab really every relevant piece of the cascade deck, it's too easy for them to be able to disrupt you and end the game before you can do anything.
5. Tron Cascade for the ease of playing blood moon and wiping lands more easily. I don't think that this one is a close argument.
6. Bant Spirits Electrodominance for the easy answers to spell queller, aether vial, and not folding to stony silence.
7. Hardened Scales
This one is close. I think that cascade is better because you have more possible answers in your deck but I could easily be convinced otherwise here.
8. Humans
I think that having more spot removal to take out a meddling mage, or ways to destroy aether vial gives electrodominance the edge here.
9. GB Rock/Jund
Grouping these together because I think the decks are similar enough. Electrobalance for the same reason as Death's Shadow, thoughtseize and inquisition are too good against cascade.
10. Whir Prison
I think that you need artifact hate in this matchup which you just don't have enough of in the cascade list. Electrodominance takes this one.
Notes:
I didn't put mono R phoenix in the list, despite it being in the decks I saw on mtggoldfish because it exists somewhere between burn and izzet phoenix. For what it's worth, I think that it's closer to burn and Electrodominance will be better.
UW or Jeskai control didn't show up in the meta decks on mtggoldfish but I think that the electrodominance list is better because it is slightly more resilient.
By my count, against the field right now electrodominance is a little bit better but it definitely is close. If your meta consists of a lot of decks like affinity and hollow one that look to dump their hand, I'd go with cascade. Overall I think that the electrodominance version leads to less non-games where you fold to an early stony silence or someone strip mines you with their abrades.
I've been working on a list that fits the current meta for a while and after some playtesting i came up with this jeskai build with a splash of green(i think the borderpost version is still better, especially now people side in less artifact hate because of KCI-ban):
Sideboard:
Wear//Tear x3 (KCI is banned, so i don't run 4, but i side these in quite often against decks with stony silence/chalice(and against prison, scales and affinity ofc))
Ravenous trap x3 (deals with dredge, does a lot against death's shadow and is usable against phoenix and jund)
Timely reinforcements x4 (burn, humans and dredge are tough match-ups for the cascade version, this buys you 1 to 3 extra turns in those match-ups (which should win you the game), while being playable against e.g. Arclight phoenix or death's shadow, i don't main deck it because it can backfire with the balance ofc)
Anger of the gods x2 (always deals with dredge and scales, usually deals with spirits, humans and phoenix too)
Ricochet trap x3 (this can make you resolve balance against control, no further explanation needed)
What do you think? tips and suggestions are welcome.
If you want to know why i play a certain card, don't hesitate to ask
If you'd like to play the deck yourself, i'd give the reasoning behind the card choice and the fetchland manabase with pleasure
I hope it will not become the new rule, otherwise only combo decks will be played in all formats exept standard
4x Flooded Strand
2x Scalding Tarn
4x Steam Vents
2x Sacred Foundry
2x Sulfur Falls
2x Tolaria West
2x Island
2x Mountain
1x Plains
4x Restore Balance
3x Ancestral vision
4x Serum visions
4x Electrodominance
4x As Foretorld
4x Greater Gargadon
3x Lightning Bolt
3x Remand
1x Vendilion Clique
3x Nahiri, the Harbinger
1x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1x Tormod's Crypt
1x Blood Moon
2x Mission Briefing
My sideboard is still under construction, but it has:
2x Stony silence
2x Rest in peace
2x Pithing needle
2x Abrade
2x Anger of the Gods
3x Dispel
2x Lightning helix
Finally, Mission Briefing didn´t pass the cut, being a relatively bad in a grindy match up. Maybe they must be supplanted by 2x Cryptic command?. I think that we need to include a secondary winning condition, and Nahiri, the Harbinger is our best chance. That is the reason to play uwr instead of ur version. Furthermore, white splash open a huge sideboard.
What do you think about this version?
My Sideboard is also a work in progress, however, I like the interaction of Tolaria West with Tormod's Crypt and Engineered Explosives. Tutoring up answers is always a powerful thing. Leyline of Sanctity is for Rock and Burn as they can answer our engine or race to win. Wear//Tear, Abraide, and/or Shattering Spree all seem like good answers to artifacts. I picked Wear//Tear as it also answers enchantments but it may be wrong. Anger of the Gods is just an additional sweeper for aggressive decks. I think there may be better sideboard options out there, but this is what I came up with based on what I had handy.
I like the white splash for Nahiri, the Harbinger and Path to Exile but I also like slamming Emmy into play on the cheap. I think Electrodominance has added some new life to an interesting deck and I can't wait to test this at my next FNM.
4 Greater Gargadon
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Walkers:
4 Nahiri, the Harbinger
Enchantment:
4 As Foretold
Instants/Sorcery:
4 Electrodominance
3 Path to Exile
3 Sleight of Hand
4 Opt
4 Serum Visions
4 Ancestral Vision
4 Restore Balance
2 Island
2 Mountain
2 Plains
3 Flooded Strand
3 Arid Mesa
2 Steam Vents
2 Spirebluff Canal
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Hallowed Fountain
3 Tolaria West
1 Surgical Extraction
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Wear // Tear
2 Dispel
3 Anger of the Gods
3 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Engineered Explosives
Modern Dredge
Budget Dredge
Mardu Pyromancer
Belcher
Other reflexion: why running so many manipulation (Serum + Opt + Sleight) and no Remand + Cryptic?. I think that with Serum and Ancestral we are in a good position searching the combo piece, using control cards to delay our opponent. Maybe Azcanta could give us better draws if we want to search some piece.
Quoting and updating my list. As I said earlier, 1 Chandra and 1 Mission Briefing really feels right. They’re powerful, but I really don’t want to see them in multiples.
To my dismay, however, my lgs has closed down and work has taken over my life, so I won’t be testing any more in the foreseeable future. Maybe I’ll try something come MagicFest Tampa.
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Sulfur Falls
4 Steam Vents
2 Island
2 Mountain
3 Tolaria West
1 Stomping Ground
Creatures
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Greater Gargadon
Spells
4 Electrodominance
4 As Foretold
4 Restore Balance
4 Ancestral Vision
3 Wheel of Fate
2 Devastating summons
1 Echoing thruth
2 Serum Visions
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Claws of Gix
3 Ancient Grudge
1 Anger of the Gods
2 Spell pierce
2 Dispel
1 Pithing Needle
2 Relic of progenitus
4 Leyline of sanctity
Added the 3rd tolaria to increase the odd to find balance. 3 baubles are now 2 devastating summons and an additional bolt. Cutting a wheel of fate from the set to increase the bolt count to 3. Against fast decks and mainly plainswalker, bolt is a must.
Leyline of sanctity in the sideboard are just too good against burn (one of the worst mu) and bg decks (discard effects are a pain for us. Followed by a surgical on a balance is game).
It's hard against super fast decks:
Dredge, goblin, burn, ur phoenix. We are in advantage against other mu. My loss were against living end dominance(hollow one plan is a pain), ur phoenix(lost by the single copy of izzet charm in the deck)and affinity(deck refused to work completely).
The addition of devastating summons increased the % of the land denial plan, and it's too good to cast electrobalance while summons is on the stack. Won many games by casting it on turn 3 and comboing out. With few cards in hand and 0 lands in play, two 3/3 will beat hard
P.S: Has anyone tried Karn, Scion of Urza? I know he exiles our stuff sometimes but he seems like a really good threat, with card advantage as well as a clock.
i will say spirits is a slog to win, but very win able, the games just tend to go long due to mausoleum wanderer.
a good part of the cascade build advantage is that it now has relevant early game removal, between dead//gone, Response // Resurgence, Depose // Deploy, Warrant // Warden and dismember (there also Cut // Ribbons as a major reason to run black) the deck has a reasonable amount of removal for the early game also Gideon of the Trials is normally a 3 mana time walk as all aggro and midrange decks take a turn off to deal with him (hes also a solid wincon)
(and not going to lie i'm really hoping for a fire//ice reprint in modern horizons as that then becomes the decks best removal option.
i'm also convinced there a cascade shell that uses theater of horrors and ill gotten inheritance as a "not draw" engine and life dran wincon to be tried.
there also probably a treasure based deck shell for a cascade and electro balance build as well.
i've not tried karn yet but he on my radar for trying with a antiquities war build.
Competitive Decks
Devotion to the Lash B ----
Monkey Conservation WUGR ---- Dragon WorshipR
I'm certainly not going to get rid of my borderposts anytime soon, I think that the deck is still very viable. I'm currently running electrobalance though and I think that I will stay that way for a while.
On a speculative note, I'm hoping for some sweet blue reprints in Modern Horizons that will be a bump to the deck.
Yeah, current theme is no black, still. I miss the old days where my favorite color stood for something in our archetype.
It’s been mostly successful. It’s strong against a good number of the field and only really has a tougher matchup vs Spirits and Humans. It seems the cascadeless version has the same good and bad matchups as the cascade version, but the w/l percentage is push further in that direction (i.e. our matchup against spirits becomes worse, despite already being bad; but our matchup against control becomes better, despite already being slightly favorable), with the only exceptions being that cascadeless decks are better against thoughtseize matchups. Luckily, the versatility in sideboard options makes games 2 and 3 feel a lot less clunky. Being able to run shattering spree instead of ingot chewer feels so much better.
Overall, Cascade version feels “safer” walking into an unknown meta and cascadeless feels better walking into a meta where a majority of the floor is expected to be 50/50 or better.
New Cascade List: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1695616#paper
UR ElectroBalance: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1696674#paper
UWR (Jeskai) ElectroBalance: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1696422#paper
The bonus old Cascade list: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/704393#paper
I don’t like the blue/red lists. I feel they lack synergistic wincons. JtMS is nice and all, but he doesn’t offer much before the first balance. EDIT: I know you don’t run JtMS in yours, that was just a general statement. I like Chandra, but found running more than one led to feelbads when both were in my hand. That being said, my list can cycle Emrakul and dig to her again if the first one is destroyed, so running two in the UR build seems reasonable.
I mean, your Jeskai list is exactly mine, except swap two Opts for two Bolts and one Tolaria West for one Spirebluff Canal. I approve.
I play less towards the style of “dig dig dig till I get the combo” and more along the lines of “control my draw the best I can to get to my combo and disrupt the important threats along the way.” Hence my 4 Bolts. Nahiri’s -2 comes into play quite often and she proceeds to soak up damage, too.
But the real nail in the coffin for Jeskai is the sideboard. I have access to the best sideboard color in the format and i abuse that. Rip in Pepperonis, Leyline of Don’t Touch Me, Stoned Silence, etc. help in all those matchups.
I have yet to play against Shadow with this build, but I suspect it is still a bad matchup.
Now with regards to the Beast Within, I really like the card but D-Spheres have felt so good against Dredge and I imagine the Phoenix decks. As well as aligning better with The colors. ( I tend to give green the stick in my builds) I wish I could try to play it more, this leads to my inclusion of Kiora, she is in this to fulfill a similar role as Gideon. They both offer protection in a sense but that's where they have slightly different roles. Gideon becomes a clock but doesn't offer any card advantage, where Kiora can draw cards as well as protecting.
Other considerations for the Sixth walker slot is of course a second Gideon, Dovin, possibly Chandra Torch, Karn with Pants, and possibly Sarkan Unbroken. Now to explain my odd decisions, So lets start with Dovin, He gains us life with the card drawn as well turning off some of the value creatures that may hurt us. With Chandra she has ramp for post Restore Balances, as well as offering card advantage that is a tad risky without As Fortold but is mostly free, as well as offering removal, This does come with a price of the RR in the casting cost, Karn, Scion of Urza, is interesting with some card advantage as well as a clock with the artifact soldiers, with the ability of not worrying about mana cost. Now for the spice of Sarkan Unbroken has the scary mana cost of 2UGR though he offer card advantage with some minor mana, with the clock of a 4/4 a turn. (I dont think hes impressive just sweet.)
I'm playing ur electrodom with a white splash for sideboard cars like wear//tear, stony, and rip. Meanwhile, maindeck I can play Blood Moon without any problem, changing gameplay after sideboarding, using more Blood Moon (2 in my sideboard) or hating phoenix&dredge removing Moons and adding Rips. Same equation using Stony Silence.
Cheers!
I feel I’ve stated my opinion of Blood Moon in this deck enough that it doesn’t need repeating. I guess in UR non-cascade list, it’s a lot more effective (as long as you main at least 3 islands), but I still would rather use those precious slots on other threats.
Lastly, @Timota, I’ve been thinking of following your list’s idea of cutting two Bolts for two more opts. How has that been working out for you?
1. Izzet Phoenix
I think that the edge here goes to Cascade. You have more shots at getting a restore balance which is huge against the recursive threats. Phoenix doesn't usually have too much artifact hate so you aren't that disadvantaged by your mana base.
2. Dredge
Cascade lets you play ravenous trap which is one of the best answers to dredge anyways so I think that cascade is the better choice into this matchup. Same thing as phoenix, recurring threats need more balances.
3. Burn
I think that the traditional cascade build is weak to burn and I'm hoping that being able to run lightning bolts and other low cmc answers can help you survive a bit longer. I personally am using Dragon's Claw in my electrobalance list now as an answer. I'll go with electrodominance here.
4. Grixis Death's Shadow
In my opinion, electrodominance is better against all thoughtseize decks. With Inquisition of Kozilek and Thoughtseize being able to grab really every relevant piece of the cascade deck, it's too easy for them to be able to disrupt you and end the game before you can do anything.
5. Tron
Cascade for the ease of playing blood moon and wiping lands more easily. I don't think that this one is a close argument.
6. Bant Spirits
Electrodominance for the easy answers to spell queller, aether vial, and not folding to stony silence.
7. Hardened Scales
This one is close. I think that cascade is better because you have more possible answers in your deck but I could easily be convinced otherwise here.
8. Humans
I think that having more spot removal to take out a meddling mage, or ways to destroy aether vial gives electrodominance the edge here.
9. GB Rock/Jund
Grouping these together because I think the decks are similar enough. Electrobalance for the same reason as Death's Shadow, thoughtseize and inquisition are too good against cascade.
10. Whir Prison
I think that you need artifact hate in this matchup which you just don't have enough of in the cascade list. Electrodominance takes this one.
Notes:
I didn't put mono R phoenix in the list, despite it being in the decks I saw on mtggoldfish because it exists somewhere between burn and izzet phoenix. For what it's worth, I think that it's closer to burn and Electrodominance will be better.
UW or Jeskai control didn't show up in the meta decks on mtggoldfish but I think that the electrodominance list is better because it is slightly more resilient.
By my count, against the field right now electrodominance is a little bit better but it definitely is close. If your meta consists of a lot of decks like affinity and hollow one that look to dump their hand, I'd go with cascade. Overall I think that the electrodominance version leads to less non-games where you fold to an early stony silence or someone strip mines you with their abrades.
Balances:
3x Restore balance
4x Ardent plea
4x Violent outburst
Win cons:
4x Greater gargadon
3x Nahiri, the harbinger
2x Gideon of the trials
1x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Nonland mana:
4x Simian spirit guide
4x Firewild borderpost
4x Fieldmist borderpost
3x Wildfield borderpost
Others:
4x Detention sphere
4x Supreme will
2x Blood moon
Lands:
4x flooded strand
3x arid mesa
1x Sacred foundry
1x hallowed fountain
1x temple garden
1x plains
1x mountain
2x island
Sideboard:
Wear//Tear x3 (KCI is banned, so i don't run 4, but i side these in quite often against decks with stony silence/chalice(and against prison, scales and affinity ofc))
Ravenous trap x3 (deals with dredge, does a lot against death's shadow and is usable against phoenix and jund)
Timely reinforcements x4 (burn, humans and dredge are tough match-ups for the cascade version, this buys you 1 to 3 extra turns in those match-ups (which should win you the game), while being playable against e.g. Arclight phoenix or death's shadow, i don't main deck it because it can backfire with the balance ofc)
Anger of the gods x2 (always deals with dredge and scales, usually deals with spirits, humans and phoenix too)
Ricochet trap x3 (this can make you resolve balance against control, no further explanation needed)
What do you think? tips and suggestions are welcome.
If you want to know why i play a certain card, don't hesitate to ask
If you'd like to play the deck yourself, i'd give the reasoning behind the card choice and the fetchland manabase with pleasure